BX  8495   .G26  T47  1891 
Thirkield,  W,  P.  1854-1936. 
Rev.  Elijah  H.  Gammon 


QUARTERLY  BULLETIN 
Gammon  Theological  Seminary 


Rev,  Elijah  H,  Gammon 

A  MEMORIAL  ADDRESS 

BY 

V 

Wilbur  P.  Thirkield,  D.  D. 


Delivered  on  Founder's  Day,  December  Twenty-Third 
1891 


ATLANTA,  GEORGIA 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/revelijahhgammonOOthir 


Memorial  Address. 


THIS  is  our  Founder's  Day.  In  other  years  we  have 
observed  it  with  joy  and  gratitude,  and  with  messages 
of  hearty  congratulation  to  our  living  friend  and  ben- 
efactor. Now  out  from  us  and  away  into  the  heavens 
he  has  passed  to  his  reward.  Henceforth  this  is  also  our 
Memorial  Day,  on  which  we  shall  not  only  contemplate  his 
work,  but  shall  also  celebrate  the  character  of  the  man  who  built 
his  thought  and  life  into  this  Institution  which  we  cherish  as  his 
enduring  monument. 

This  is  no  time  for  unconsidered  tribute  or  indiscriminate 
praise.  Like  one  before  him,  Mr.  Gammon  would  rather  change 
the  established  rule  of  necrology,  "Say  nothing  but  good  of  the 
dead,"  and  substitute  for  it,  "  Say  nothing  of  the  dead  but  truth  " 
He  who  was  honest  to  the  core  and  loved  the  truth  would,  if 
he  could  speak  to  us,  ask  on  this  Memorial  Day  only  the  tribute 
of  unadorned  and  simple  truth.  Standing  in  the  presence  of  his 
rounded  life,  in  all  honesty  we  may  say  :  Here  is  a  man  of 
wisdom,  energy,  fortitude  ;  of  unbending  integrity  and  indomi- 
table perseverance  ;  a  man  of  genuine  mental  and  moral  texture 
through  and  through  ;  without  vanity  and  free  from  ambition, 
and  of  religious  sincerity  almost  severe  in  its  inflexibility.  If 
at  times  stern  and  severe  seemed  this  man,  yet  sterner  and 
severer  was  he  with  himself  than  with  others  ;  a  man  whom  we  can 
think  of  as  stoic  or  martyr,  but  never  as  one  given  to  "softness 
or  needless  self-indulgence  ; " — in  short,  "at  all  times  equally 
without  pretension  or  parade,  a  simple-living,  nobly-daring,  much- 
enduring  man."  A  strong  lover  of  the  truth  ;  a  stout  advo- 
cate of  justice  and  humanity  ;  a  preacher  of  righteousness  ;  the 
poor  man's  friend — a  son  of  God. 

The  mind  loves  a  shining  mark.  The  emblazoned  deeds  of  the 
orator  statesman,  soldier,  stir  the  imagination  and  command  the 
homage  of  men.  The  quiet  deeds  of  even  the  great  and  good  that 
have  larger  and  more  lasting  significance  in  the  welfare  of  a  race 
or  the  life  of  a  nation,  go  almost  unheralded  and  often  unsung. 


4 


Great  influences  flowing  forth  from  such  a  quiet  life  we  are  to 
bring  to  record  this  day.  Here  are  no  "moving  deeds  of  flood 
and  field  "  to  chronicle  ;  no  triumphs  of  statesmanship  or  bril- 
liant achievements  of  forum  or  pulpit.  We  are  to  consider  the 
simple  life  of  a  plain  man,  who  thought  and  lived  out  his  life  in 
this  common-place  world  ;  a  life  that  can  be  surveyed  and  mapped 
out  ;  the  life  of  a  preacher,  yet  one  for  years  more  largely  taken 
up  with  the  plannings  and  figures  of  business  that  men  call  sec- 
ular, than  with  the  unseen  and  intangible  realties  of  the  world 
eternal  ;  a  life  marked  by  no  angelic  visitants,  glorified  by  no 
recorded  visions  celestial.  Yet  we  are  to  look  into  the  life  of 
one  who  loved  God  and  achieved  large  things  for  his  fellowmen  ; 
who,  amidst  the  world  of  business  and  the  love  of  money  and  the 
deceitfulness  of  gain,  cherished  a  noble  purpose  and  a  high  phi- 
lanthropy. We  are  to  walk  in  brief  companionship  with  a  man 
who  poured  the  matured  powers  of  heart  and  brain  into  an  insti- 
tution for  the  redemption  of  a  race  and  the  spiritual  uplift  of 
humanity.  If  a  life  is  to  be  estimated  by  results,  then  here  is  a 
life  not  to  be  measured  by  human  measuring  lines  or  computed 
by  man's  arithmetic.  If  to  live  in  lives  made  better  by  our  life 
and  work  is  not  to  die,  then  here  is  one  who  mightily  lives.  If 
the  measure  of  greatness  is  influences  set  in  motion  and  sus- 
tained, that  through  all  generations  shall  help  mankind  to 
larger  life  and  spiritual  power,  then  here  is  a  life  that  lays  large 
claim  to  greatness  among  men. 

The  name  we  commemorate  is  Elijah  H.  Gammon.  His  life 
is  marked  by  some  of  the  tender,  heroic,  enduring  qualities  of 
the  old  prophet  whose  name  he  bore.  He  was  a  man  of  the 
mountain-type,  strong,  rugged,  stern  ;  yet,  clothed  as  are  the 
mountain  sides  with  verdure  and  flowers,  so  he,  to  those  who 
knew  him  best,  with  a  tenderness  and  beauty  of  nature  befitting 
his  heroic  mould. 

For  years  associated  with  him,  in  relations  almost  filial  in 
their  trustfulness  and  growing  veneration,  when,  on  the  third 
day  of  last  July,  among  the  granite  hills  of  his  own  native  New 
England,  the  tidings  came  of  the  death  of  this  father  in  Israel, 


5 


I  felt  that  an  Elijah  had  indeed  been  called  for,  and  my  heart 
cried  out :  "  My  father  !  my  father  !  the  chariots  of  Israel  and 
the  horsemen  thereof  !  " 

Who  that  knew  him  could  doubt  his  triumphal  end  ?  Dur- 
ing all  his  closing  years,  his  thoughtful,  prayerful,  unselfish 
planning  for  a  School  of  the  Prophets,  had  prepared  him  for  a 
prophet's  ascension  and  a  prophet's  home.  We  go  on  with  our 
work,  as  did  the  companions  and  friends  in  the  Prophets'  School 
at  Jericho,  and  we  see  his  face  no  more.  Men  say,  "  His  life  has 
gone  out."  No  ;  his  life  is  going  on.  "  His  light  quenched." 
No  ;  his  faith  in  God,  witnessed  by  his  princely  beneficence,  has 
set  his  light  as  a  star  in  a  golden  candlestick.  The  candlestick 
is  removed,  but  the  light  shines  on. 

"  Were  a  star  quenched  on  high, 

For  ages  would  its  light, 
Still  traveling  downward  from  the  sky. 

Shine  on  our  mortal  sight. 

"  So,  when  a  great  man  dies. 

For  years  beyond  our  ken, 
The  light  he  leaves  behind  him, 

Lies  upon  the  paths  of  men." 

Youth. 

Elijah  H.  Gammon  was  born  on  Gilman  Pond  plantation, 
now  Lexington,  Maine.  The  year  was  1819,  December  the 
month,  the  day  the  23rd. 

The  oldest  son,  he  early  knew  the  humble,  toilsome  life  of  a 
Yankee  farmer's  boy,  hardening  his  tissues  by  severe  labor; 
felling  the  pines  ;  rolling  rocks  from  the  fields  and  building  those 
stone  fences,  to  stand  gray  and  lichen-covered  for  generations  ; 
trudging  off  through  the  snow  to  the  district  school;  studying 
his  lessons  of  nights  by  the  light  of  pine  knots  ;  hearing  sermons 
in  the  humble  meeting-house  from  the  Methodist  itinerant.  On 
the  little  farm  of  his  parents,  struggling  against  poverty,  the 
toilsome  youth  of  Mr.  Gammon  was  spent.  The  home  was 
humble,  but  its  four  walls  did  not  limit  the  horizon  of  an  aspir- 
ing mind.  God's  world  was  in  clear  view,  and  he  had  a  mind 
open  to  the  divine  significance  of  things. 


6 


He  was  well  born,  inheriting  from  a  poor  but  honest  and 
sturdy  ancestry  a  stout  body,  a  clear  brain,  good  natural  sense, 
strong,  healthy  instincts  ;  the  very  best  ground  out  of  which  to 
grow  solid  manhood. 

The  Preacher. 

The  two  facts  that  stand  out  clear  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Gam- 
mon in  Maine,  are  his  conversion  at  the  age  of  seventeen  under 
the  preaching  of  James  Farrington,  and  his  entrance  on  the 
work  of  the  ministry  at  the  age  of  twenty-four. 

Recognizing  God's  special  claim  upon  him  in  a  divine  call 
to  the  ministry,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  is  teaching  school  to 
assise  himself  in  his  preparation  for  this  work.  Licensed  to 
preach  in  1843,  he  is  appointed  to  Wilton,  in  which  place  he 
marries  Miss  Sarah  J.  Cutler.  In  1851  failing  health  from 
bronchial  difficulties  induced  him  to  join  the  large  company  of 
New  Englanders,  who  had  found  a  milder  climate  and  large 
fields  of  usefulness  in  Illinois.  Here  he  entered  the  Rock 
River  Conference  and  filled  appointments  at  St.  Charles,  Jeffer- 
son street,  Chicago — the  nucleus  of  Centenary  church,  which, 
in  later  years,  his  thought  and  devotion  did  so  much  to  build  up 
and  sustain — and  Batavia.  In  1855  occurred  the  death  of  his 
wife.  At  the  close  of  his  first  year  at  Batavia  in  1855,  his 
qualities  as  an  administrator  called  him  into  the  presiding  elder- 
ship, where  his  systematic  energy  and  skiU  found  a  larger  field 
in  organizing  and  directing  the  work  of  the  church  Mr.  Gam- 
mon was  married  in  1856  to  Mrs,  Jane  C.  Colton,  a  woman  of 
superior  culture  and  noble  Christian  character.  In  1858  his 
health  again  .breaks;  the  old  bronchial  trouble  takes  chronic 
hold  on  him  ;  and  that  year  he  takes  a  superannuated  relation  to 
the  Conference. 

Mr.  Gammon  was  a  man  of  the  first  order  of  native  ability. 
Of  large  brain  and  strong  powers  of  reasoning,  he  placed  not  so 
much  dependence  on  printed  books  as  some  men.  The  world  of 
nature  and  human  life  was  an  open  book  to  his  observant  mind. 
He  worked  carefully  his  own  natural  resources.  He  knew  the 
Bible,  and  was  a  preacher  of  the  Word.  The  quality  of  his 
preaching  is  indicated  in  his  choice  of  texts,  a  record  of  which 


during  the  greater  pirt  of  l8o3,  '54  and  '55  we  have.  They  are 
texts  suggestive  of  the  basal  doctrines  of  Christianity  ;  texts 
which  are  a  call  to  solid  thinking  on  life  and  destiny.  Numbers 
of  them  reveal  a  sympathetic  heart  open  to  the  trials  and  strug- 
gles of  his  people.  As  a  pastor  he  was  methodical,  tender,  pains- 
taking. He 

"  Lived  himself  the  truths  he  taught, 
White-souled.  clean-handed,  pure  of  heart.'" 

Two  incidents  come  to  us  from  the  life  of  tliis  preacher  of 
righteousness  which  are  prophetic,  and  should  have  record  here 
as  throwing  light  on  the  special  philanthropic  work  that  crowned 
his  liYe  The)'  show  that  this  pouring  forth  of  the  best  treasures 
of  thought  and  planning  and  giving  in  his  last  years,  more  espe- 
cially for  the  sake  of  a  race  struggling  up  out  of  bondage,  was 
the  result  of  no  mere  whim  or  caprice  or  sudden  impulse  of  gen- 
erous sentiment  for  the  Negro. 

Away  back  in  Maine  when  anti-slavery  men  were  few  and  a 
hated  band,  he  took  his  stand  against  slavery.  Being  solicited 
to  open  with  prayer  a  meeting  called  in  the  interests  of  the 
Mexican  war,  he  refused,  because  he  believed  that  the  war  was 
in  the  interests  of  unrighteousness.  He  voted  the  first  aboli- 
tion ticket  and  continued  on  that  line  tdl  Emancipation. 

Up  to  the  time  that  he  entered  the  Rock  River  Conference, 
no  anti-slavery  resolution  had  been  passed  by  that  body.  He 
suggested,  at  an  early  session,  to  one  of  the  leading  members, 
that  action  on  this  vital  subject  should  be  taken,  and  he  was 
thus  indirectly  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  the  first 
resolution  against  slavery  in  that  conference. 

The  Man  of  Business. 

For  a  full  year  after  he  was  forced  by  failing  health  to  leave 
the  pulpit,  Mr.  Gammon  waited  before  entering  upon  a  settled 
business.  The  choice  of  the  enterprise  into  which  he  finally 
put  his  thought  and  strength  is  a  revelation  of  the  sagacity  of 
the  man,  guided,  as  we  believe,  by  Divme  Providence.  His 
prophetic  eye  saw  the  immense  harvests  to  be  gathered  out  of 
the  great  West  and  the  possibilities  of  machinery  in  reaping 
them.    His  influence  and  success  in  developing  this  industry  is 


H 

simply  phenomenal  when  we  remember  that  up  to  the  age  of 
forty  his  only  experiences  had  been  those  common  to  a  farmer's 
boy,  a  school  teacher  and  a  Methodist  preacher.  Yet,  from 
Easter's  Implement  World,  we  have  this  remarkable  tribute  to 
the  business  ability  and  genius  of  the  man: 

"  It  is  hardly  possible  to  measure  the  influence  Mr.  Gammon 
had  in  the  successful  improvement  of  the  methods  of  reaping 
the  harvests  of  the  world,  and  also  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  development  of  the  harvester  and  binder  used  to-day  every- 
where in  all  grain-fields  from  what  was  known  and  used  twenty 
years  ago  is  largely  due  to  him.  He  was  connected  with  its 
progress  almost  from  the  beginning  and  with  the  experiments 
made  until  the  development  into  the  successful  machine  used 
to-day  by  thousands  of  farmers." 

Under  the  guidance  of  events,  ordered  by  a  wisdom  higher 
than  his  own,  the  man  himself,  with  his  keen  insight,  unerring 
judgment  and  power  to  see  mto  and  measure  the  demands  of 
the  future,  furnishes  the  only  explanation  of  this  remarkable 
record  of  achievement.  He  had  the  mind  that  would  grasp 
large  plans  and  hold  them  clearly  before  him  till  he  could  see  all 
round  and  through  them  ;  yet  also  that  mastery  of  details,  which 
is  the  strength  of  successful  execution. 

His  life  was  not  found  between  the  lids  of  his  ledger.  His 
soul  lived  outside  the  mechanism  of  business.  He  stood  aloft, 
master  of  the  machine.  He  was  not  like  that  man  of  business 
spoken  of  by  Hazlitt  who,  merely  yoked  to  a  go-cart,  destitute 
of  imagination,  had  "  no  ideas  but  those  of  custom  and  interest 
on  the  narrowest  scale  ; "  but  rather  belonged  to  that  class  of 
men  alluded  to  by  Burke  in  his  speech  on  the  India  Bill,  "  mer- 
chants who  acted  in  the  spirit  of  statesmen." 

The  Philanthropist. 

As  a  preacher,  Mr.  Gammon's  active  work  was  over  thirty 
years  ago.  As  a  man  of  business,  his  marked  success  with  its 
record  of  honor  and  probity,  would  inevitably  have  been  forgotten 
along  with  the  careers  of  other  men  of  affairs.    It  is  as  a  philan- 


9 


thropist  that  his  name  will  be  known  and  honored  among  men. 
We  give  honor  to  this  man  not  chiefly  because  this  Institution 
bears  his  name,  or  because  he  gave  his  half-million  of  treasure 
to  found  and  perpetuate  it ;  but  for  the  reason  that  this  Semi- 
nary largely  embodies  his  life.  Emerson  speaks  of  an  amiable 
and  accomplished  person  who  undertook  a  practical  reform  ;  yet 
he  was  never  able  to  find  in  the  man  the  enterprise  of  love  he 
took  in  hand.  Hence  his  action  was  tentative  and  could  not  in- 
spire enthusiasm. 

Not  so  with  Mr.  Gammon.  Back  of  all  his  giving  was  a  great 
soul  filled  with  love  for  humanity,  and  a  firm  and  well-formed 
purpose  to  incarnate  his  life  in  a  form  that  should  live  for  the 
cause  of  God  and  man,  and  thus  perpetuate  his  ministry  that  was 
cut  short.  He  deliberately  set  his  mind  to  the  task  of  choosing 
the  field  of  his  beneficence.  Once  chosen,  tested,  adopted,  the 
work  represents  not  merely  his  money.  The  best  thought 
and  energy  of  the  man  are  poured  into  it  with  a  devotion  as  delib- 
erate as' it  was  devout,  and  which  finally  kindled  into  an  enthusi- 
asm that  made  luminous  and  glad  his  closing  years. 

Mr.  Gammon's  relations  to  the  beginnings  of  this  Seminary  are 
illustrated  in  that  peculiar  type  of  deliberation  in  which  an  acute 
observer  has  discovered  four  processes  :  "When  E.  H.  Gammon 
had  an  important  subject  upon  his  mind,  he  would  conceive  an 
idea  and  allow  it  to  germinate  without  mentioning  the  subject  to 
any  person  ;  this  process  might  take  months.  Next  he  would 
begin  to  ask  questions  about  it  in  a  way  so  quiet  that  only  to 
those  who  knew  him  well  would  there  be  any  indication  of  his 
thoughts.  The  third  step  was  the  suggestion  to  those  with 
whom  he  conferred  of  various  hypotheses  as  to  their  conditions, 
limitations,  cost,  probable  results.  After  this  a  long  period  of 
silence,  out  of  which  he  would  emerge  with  a  matured  plan.  Af- 
terward it  was  difficult  to  cause  him  to  vary." 

Cherishmg  a  plan  of  large  beneficence,  his  mind  turns  towards 
the  South  as  a  possible  field  for  profitable  investment  for  the 
kingdom  of  God.  He  sees  here  a  race  that  has  shown  since 
emancipation  elements  of  stability  and  power  in  their  intellectual 


10 


and  religious  life.  With  a  genius  for  religion  ;  with  largely  an 
untrained  ministry  ;  with  their  future  hinging  on  the  intelli- 
gence, purity  and  stability  of  their  church  life,  Providence  ut- 
tered a  Macedonian  cry  for  an  institution  especially  devoted  to 
the  preparation  of  a  trained  and  consecrated  Christian  ministry. 
In  an  hour  of  conscientious  meditation,  some  such  call  must 
have  reached  Mr.  Gammon. 

Seeking  light  on  the  subject  from  his  old  friend.  Dr.  Fuller, 
he  is  encouraged  and  his  mind  is  directed  towards  Atlanta.  At 
about  the  same  time  Bishop  Warren  has  taken  up  his  episcopal 
work  in  the  South,  and  God  lays  on  his  heart  the  burden  of  a 
trained  ministry  especially  for  the  colored  race.  Providence 
brings  these  men  together.  The  story  of  the  beginnings  and 
the  progress  of  their  work  in  which  they  builded  larger  than 
they  knew,  is  best  told  in  the  account  given  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  by  Bishop  Warren  himself: 

"  Having  been  in  partnership  with  him  in  his  most  important 
business,  I  wish  to  put  on  record  some  knowledge  gained  in  that 
intimate  relation.  While  I  was  under  a  burden  of  soul  and  im- 
portunateness  in  prayer  for  the  means  of  educating  the  leaders 
of  our  half-million  church  members  in  the  South,  Brother  Gam- 
mon caused  it  to  be  intimated  to  me  by  Dr.  Fuller  that  he  was 
interested.  I  immediately  started  for  Chicago.  The  result  of  a 
long,  earnest  and  comprehensive  conversation  was  that  we  would 
go  into  partnership  to  establish  a  theological  school  at  Atlanta. 
He  was  to  put  in  $25,000  and  I  $20,000.  I  depended  on  the 
Lord's  treasure  in  the  hand  of  his  stewards  to  back  me.  He 
needed  no  backing.  Before  we  got  through  we  each  had  put  in 
more  than  we  proposed.  When  the  school  building  was  finished 
we  dissolved  the  partnership  of  business,  but  kept  the  one  of 
heart,  which  had  grown  to  be  far  dearer  and  more  important  than 
the  other.  To  the  end  of  his  days  we  were  known  to  each  other 
as  '  my  partner.' 

"  Soon  after  the  school  was  finished  he  took  out  all  the  money 
I  had  put  in  and  built  a  hall  for  Clark  University,  adjacent,  and 
honored  me  by  calling  it  by  my  name.    He  never  knew  that 


11 


the  Theological  Seminary  was  to  be  called  by  his  name  till  it  was 
(lone.  When  he  saw  that  the  Seminary  had  a  need  he  met  it.  One 
day  he  said  to  Dean  Thirkield's  wife:  'This  great  school-hall 
is  not  a  fit  place  for  you  and  your  little  children  Come  out  on 
the  campus  and  select  a  .spot  for  a  house  '  He  built  it.  And 
then  built  three  more  for  other  professors.  A  library  building  was 
needed.  He  met  it  with  one  of  the  most  artistic  buildings  that 
ever  delighted  a  well-trained  and  appreciative  eye. 

"Then  he  took  the  School  into  full  membership  to  love  and 
to  cherish  till  death  part.  He  meant  to  endow  it  with  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollars.  He  did.  The  result  may  turn  out  that  he 
wrought  larger  than  he  knew ;  certainly  larger  than  we  knew. 
It  was  a  wonderful  and  rare  opportunity,  and  this  old-time  abo- 
litionist from  Maine  had  matured  the  insight  to  perceive  it.  The 
opportunity  was  not  far  behind  Lincoln's;  millions,  for  thousands 
of  years,  shall  call  him  blessed." 

He  has  found  a  wise  and  zealous  partner  in  Bishop  Warren, 
who  is  warmly  seconded  by  Dr.  Rust,  and  the  commodious  and 
well-appointed  hall  is  .soon  rising  on  the  commanding  site,  spe- 
cially purchased  for  the  building.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  of 
his  gift  endowed  the  chair  of  the  first  professor,  Mr.  Gammon's 
only  stipulation  being  that  he  should  be  a  young  man. 

The  Dean  of  the  School,  then  a  department  of  Clark  Univer- 
sity under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  E.  O.  Thayer,  entered 
upon  the  work  of  organization  and  instruction,  October  3d,  1883, 
with  two  students  in  attendance.  A  full  three  years'  course 
of  study  is  projected.  A  single  professor,  for  two  years,  is 
left  to  carry  on  the  School.  This  was  the  experimental  stage 
of  the  work.  With  much  deliberation  and  some  tokens  of 
abiding  interest,  Mr.  Gammon  waited  and  watched  the  experi- 
ment. Information  as  to  the  progress  and  possibilities  of  the 
work  was  always  welcomed  by  him.  These  years  of  observation 
and  careful  inquiry  satisfied  his  mind  as  to  the  urgent  necessity, 
and  the  large  possibilities  of  permanent  usefulness  of  a  thor- 
oughly equipped  school  for  the  training  of  ministers  for  the 
ever-enlarging  field  of  Christian  enterprise,  especially  among  the 
colored  people  of  the  South. 


1-1 


When  his  mind  in  its  deliberations  had  once  passed  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  those  who  had  at  times  been  inclined  to  dis- 
couragement at  his  reticence  and  seeming  lack  of  hearty  co-op- 
eration, were  astonished  at  the  large  plans,  the  matured  ideas, 
and  the  marked  enthusiasm  which,  at  one  bound,  he  brought 
into  the  work.  He  had  not  been  idle  or  indifferent  as  to  the 
enterprise.  Those  four  stages  of  that  deliberation  of  a  peculiar 
type  were  in  "this  long  period  of  silence"  bringing  forth  that 
"matured  plan"  from  which  "it  was  difficult  to  cause  him  to  vary." 

It  has  been  thought  that  a  better  view  of  the  man  himself — 
of  his  relation  to  this  work  ;  of  his  high  hopes  and  his  growing 
enthusiasm,  as  the  result  of  clear  planning  and  settled  convic- 
tions, might  be  best  conveyed  through  e.xtracts  from  Mr.  Gam- 
mon's letters. 

In  the  spring  of  1885  came  a  memorable  letter,  for  the  first 
time  revealing  his  large  plans  and  his  lofty  and  devoted  pur- 
poses as  to  this  enterprise,  which  had  been  silently  maturing 
for,  who  can  say  how  many  years  ! 

"  Twenty-nine  students  is  a  large  showing  for  the  second 
year.  I  expect  great  results  from  your  school.  *  *  * 
I  hope  and  intend  that  it  shall  be  the  best  theological  school  of 
the  whole  South."       *       *  * 

In  July,  1885,  after  a  personal  visit  to  Batavia,  when  matters 
as  to  the  future  of  the  school  were  fully  discussed  and  the  plan 
of  endowment  and  enlargement  definitely  settled,  and  a  second 
professor  provided  for,  he  gives  most  enthusiastic  assurances  of 
his  entire  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Institution  : 

"If  you  have  your  ordinary  success  in  drawing  the  students 
in  and  teaching  them,  and  I  have  ordinary  business  success,  we 
will  make  that  Institution  such  a  power  in  the  South  as  no  one 
outside  conceives  of.  I  intend  to  devote  the  balance  of  my  life 
to  the  interests  of  that  school.  I  have  faith  in  it  ivithout  a  doubt. 
[Italics  his.]  Please  secure  all  you  can  for  scholarships,  in  your 
travels,  as  that  will  fill  up  the  school  with  good  students." 

Later,  in  1885,  he  writes  in  high  hopes  : 

"  I  believe  if  you  and  I  live  ten  years,  we  will  see  your  scliool 


in 

occupying  a  position  in  the  front  rani<. ;  doing  a  work  fully  equal 

to  Garrett  or  Drew,  and  so  recognized." 

His  growing  enthusiasm  in  the  work  was  inspiring  : 

[1886.]    "If  I  prosper  in  business  and  your  faith  fail  not,  * 

*    *    we  will  have  sixty  students  there  next  year.    Won't  that 

be  glorious  " 

His  "glorious"  anticipations  were  happily  more  than  real- 
ized, the  attendance  being  sixty-one. 

The  abiding  interest  of  his  epi.scopal  "Partner"  always  de- 
lighted him  : 

[1886.]  "  I  received  a  letter  from  Bishop  Warren  last  week 
full  of  enthusiastic  confidence  as  to  the  wonderful  effects  of  the 
school." 

The  remarkable  address  of  Dr.  (now  Bishop)  Haygood  at  the 
Fourth  Annual  Opening  of  the  school,  wherein  he  gave  the  Insti- 
tution a  place  of  possible  importance  and  responsibility  second 
to  none  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  in  the  entire 
South,  gratified  but  did  not  surprise  his  hopeful  and  prophetic 
soul,  as  the  following  letter  shows  : 

"  I  wrote  you  a  few  lines  in  haste,  yesterday,  of  Dr.  Hay- 
good's  speech  as  printed  in  the  Journal.  His  whole  speech  must 
have  been  a  wonderful  production.  I  think  the  preachers  of 
the  South  should  generally  have  a  copy  of  it,  and  possibly  a 
judicious  distribution  of  it  in  the  North  would  do  the  school 
quite  as  much  good.    You  must  have  had  a  glorious  time. 

"  What  amazed  me  was  that  Dr.  Haygood's  views  so  fully 
coincided  with  mine.  I  did  not  think  there  was  a  man,  North 
or  South,  who  agreed  with  me  on  the  importance  of  your  school  ; 
but  Dr.  Haygood  seems  to  be  fully  up  to  my  measure.  *  *  * 
It  rejoices  me  exceedingly  that  he  takes  the  same  view  of  the 
subject.  They  are  words  fitly  spoken,  and  their  influence  will 
never  die." 

As  Mr.  Gammon  studied  the  situation,  he  became  convinced 
that  this  school,  to  fulfill  its  largest  usefulness,  should  be  inde- 
pendent in  its  organization  and  government,  and  thus  sustain 
the  same  relation  to  each  school  in  the  entire  system  of  educa- 


tional  institutions  of  the  Freedmcn's  Aid  and  Southern  Educa- 
tion Society.  His  careful  study  of  the  field,  and  his  long  expe- 
rience as  a  trustee  of  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  had  led  him  to 
this  view. 

The  following  points  are  therefore  important  as  outlining  his 
plan.    He  writes,  Feb.  i8,  i8<S7: 

"They  [the  Freedmen's  Aid  Board]  will  hardly  ignore  my 
proposition  or  put  it  off  indefinitely,  as  it  contemplates  securing 
the  school  an  endowment  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  at  my  death,  I  reserving  the  revenue  from  it  during  my 
life.    The  conditions  are  : 

"First.  That  it  be  made  an  independent  school,  under  the 
control  of  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society. 

"  Second.  That  they  support  the  professors,  except  the  sen- 
ior professor,  during  my  life. 

"  TJiird.  That  they  give  the  school  what  lands  it  needs,  as 
Dr.  Rust  and  I  can  agree  upon.  I  want  some  land  west  of  Cap- 
itol avenue.  I  also  want  to  help  the  school  with  what  means  I 
have  to  spare  in  building,  etc.,  during  my  life." 

What  noble  purpose  ;  what  generous  confidence  are  here  : 

[1887  ]  "  I  would  like  to  see  it  the  best  theological  school  of 
the  whole  South,  white  or  black.  I  am  certain  that  we  are  on 
the  right  track,  and  have  made  no  mistake  thus  far." 

We  lay  claim  to  the  name  philanthropist  for  our  founder^ 
because  of  the  spirit  of  the  man,  as  indicated  in  this  account  of 
his  splendid  beneficence.  He  did  not  wait  till  in  sight  of  the 
grave  and  then  cast  off  his  wealth  as  a  possession  he  could  no 
longer  use  ;  but,  living,  he  poured  out  his  treasures  ;  yea,  more, 
he  gave  the  ripe  thought  of  his  last  years — planned,  and  prayed, 
and  wrought  for  the  equipment  of  this  Seminary.  The  measure 
of  his  philanthropy  is  not  in  that  he  gave  ten  thousand  dollars 
to  Garrett,  five  thousand  dollars  to  the  Maine  Wesleyan,  thou- 
sands to  churches  and  aid  to  many  struggling  students.  The 
mere  catalogue  of  benefactions  is  no  measure  of  the  real  phil- 
anthropist. The  -man  Jiimself,  his  motive,  his  purpose,  his  sac- 
rifice, his  unselfish  enthusiasm,  his  giving  of  thought  and  time 


15 


and  heart  for  humanity — these  are  the  test  of  genuine  philan- 
thropy.   The  history  of  this  man  stands  the  test. 

"  Not  what  we  give,  but  what  we  share, 
For  the  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare." 

Before  the  Seminary  was  opened,  he  traveled  through  the 
South  with  Mrs.  Gammon  to  view  the  field.  To  most  men  of 
wealth,  the  opening  South  was  a  name  for  business  opportunity 
and  gain.  Their  journeyings  revealed  to  them  mountains  of 
coal,  great  beds  of  iron,  railroads,  cotton  mills,  lands,  forests, 
water  power.  They  saw  an  emancipated  race,  representing 
raw  labor  and  profitable  toil.  The  entire  outfit  meant  opportu. 
nity  for  gain — a  kingdom  of  wealth  and  power  in  this  world. 
But  here  is  a  man  who  had  given  thirty  years  to  iron  and 
machinery,  lands  and  business.  His  keen  eye  sees  these  mate- 
rial resources,  but  does  not  rest  there.  He  is  looking  for  higher 
things ;  for  a  kingdom  that  is  not  of  this  world  ;  for  an  invest- 
ment of  money  in  mind  ;  for  making  his  wealth  count  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

He  sees  a  race  numbering  millions,  with  millions  more 
to  come.  Out  of  two  centuries  of  slavery,  they  have  come 
with  two  positive  inheritances — the  English  language  and  the 
Christian  religion,  without  which  their  marvelous  strides  forward 
and  upward  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  never  could  have 
been  chronicled.  They  have  reared  the  fabric  of  vigorous  and 
aggressive  church  organizations.  They  have  built  more  than 
ten  thousand  churches.  A  membership  of  a  million  and  a  half 
has  been  gathered.  The  form  and  vitality  of  the  Christian 
religion  has  been  preserved  by  a  ministry  largely  ignorant,  and 
often  with  low  ideals  of  life  and  false  conceptions  of  religion. 
The  church  is  the  centre  of  their  social  as  well  as  religious  life. 
The  ministry  is  the  centre  of  power,  and  to  a  great  extent  holds 
in  its  grasp  the  weal  or  woe  of  these  people. 

The  race  is  rising  into  intelligent  thought  and  independent 
purpose.  A  crisis  is  on  the  churches.  The  problem  is  how  to 
hold  the  rising  generation  to  the  Church,  by  a  ministry  with  lit- 
tle mental  discipline  or  spiritual  culture.    The  call  for  trained 


16 


ministers  is  growing  urgent.  It  soon  will  be  imperative.  Yet, 
for  these  ten  thousand  ministers,  preaching  and  to  preach  to  ten 
millions  of  their  race  who  shall  look  to  them  for  light  and  guid- 
ance, there  is  not  a  single  theological  school  in  all  the  South, 
with  liberal  equipment,  devoted  distinctively  and  solely  to  the- 
ological training. 

We  lay  claim  to  the  title  philanthropist  for  this  man,  in  that 
ne  sees,  seises  jipon,  and  occupies  this  immense  opportunity  for 
the  redemption  of  a  race. 

Why  did  his  philanthropy  take  this  form  } 

He  did  not  endow  this  school  merely  for  the  sake  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  wanted  to  help  all  his  fellow- 
men  through  all  the  churches.  It  was  entrusted  to  the  care  and 
direction  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  best  adapted 
through  its  spirit,  organization  and  government  in  the  South,  to 
carry  out  his  plans. 

His  benefactions  took  the  form  of  a  theological  school 
because  he  believed  that  the  ministers  held  the  centre  of  power, 
and  were  to  be  the  leaders  of  their  race  for  years  to  come. 

He  established  an  institution  open  especially  for  the  Negro 
race,  not  because  they  were  black,  but  because  they  were  the 
most  needy  of  all  men.  He  simplyjgave  practical  expression 
to  his  faith  in  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of 
man.  He  was  no  sentimentalist  as  regards  the  Negro.  He 
simply  had  a  heart  as  broad  as  humanity — a  great  heart  backed 
by  conscience — and  without  prejudice,  it  went  out  to  this  race  as  a 
part  of  God's  family,  needing  the  touch  of  Christ's  hand,  through 
him.    He  shared  the  view  of  Lowell: 

"  In  the  gain  or  loss  of  one  race 
All  the  rest  have  equal  claim." 

Those  strong  words,  addressed  by  Wm.  Morris  to  Elizabeth 
Fry  in  his  "Vision  of  Saints,"  may  well  be  spoken  of  this  friend 
of  ours : 

"  O  clear-eyed  soul, 

That  saw  undimmed  the  light  above  the  mists 
That  blinded  worldly  eyes ;  because  it  knew 

The  Rule  of  Right — one  with  the  Law  of  God  !  " 


17 


How  many  eyes,  blinded  by  the  mists  of  prejudice,  failed  to 
see  the  possibilities  of  usefulness  among  a  despised  people,  just 
struggling  out  of  conditions  entailed  by  bondage — or  seeing, 
spurned  to  link  name  and  life-work  to  a  recently  enslaved  race. 

But  here  is  a  sun-crowned  soul,  whose  eyes  are  "above  the 
mists;"  his  conscience  true  to  the  "  Rule  of  Right ;"  his  pur- 
pose "  one  with  the  Law  of  God  ; "  and  so  he  builds  his  life  into 
God's  ever-widening  plans  for  a  race  ;  and  now,  ascended,  takes 
his  place  alongside  of  those  lovers  of  their  fellow  men  to  whom 
the  Master  has  said  :  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me.  Enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

The  Man. 

"The  tna?i  is  more  important  than  the  preacher,"  is  a  saying 
of  Mr.  Gammon  to  Dr.  Buckley,  when  in  1864,  he  had  removed 
to  Detroit  and  was  seeking  a  pastor  for  himself  and  his  family. 
This  is  just  like  him.  He  believed  that  the  crown  of  creation 
is  a  man.  Strong  as  he  stands  before  the  world  as  preacher, 
merchant,  philanthropist,  as  we  have  seen — the  real  hiding  of 
power  is  in  the  man  himself. 

He  was  a  well-made  man.  Nature  made  him  strong  all 
through.  There  was  a  great  deal  in  the  man,  of  original  endow, 
ment  and  capacity  for  growth.  He  was  no  mere  accretion,  but 
grew  as  an  oak.  Large  of  body,  strong  of  brain,  orderly,  well- 
balanced,  he  was  built  up  to  stand  "four-square  to  all  the  winds 
that  blow." 

A  man  given  to  deep  thought,  he  might  well  say — "My  mind 
to  me  a  kingdom  is."  He  had  a  genuinely  live,  vigorous  mind  ; 
plenty  of  brains,  and  he  knew  how  to  use  them.  The  greatness 
of  the  man  lay  in  his  strength  and  rectitude  of  will,  rather  rhan 
in  versatility  of  intellect.  He  had  the  basis  of  scholarship. 
With  the  mind  of  a  statesman,  thorough  training,  good  health  and 
opportunity  to  exercise  his  powers  would  have  given  him  a  high 
place  in  the  affairs  of  church  or  state.  He  was  fitted  not  so 
much  for  leadership,  as  for  counsel.  He  had  wisdom  and  fore, 
sight  that  could  plan  a  campaign,  and  a  will  to  carry  it  through. 


18 


Integrity  in  its  original  meaning  and  deepest  sense,  was  illus- 
trated in  his  character — completeness,  moral  soundness.  Double 
dealing,  false  words  or  dissembling  looks  cannot  be  thought  of 
him  "The  inner  substance  and  the  outer  face  "  were  a  har- 
monious whole.    He  was  no  man  to  play  a  part. 

Such  was  his  breadth  of  view  and  largeness  of  h.iart,  in  his 
sympathy  for  humanity,  that  over  his  portrait  in  jour  library, 
might  truthfully  be  written  the  words  uttered  by  Governor  John 
Albion  Andrews,  th^  brave,  great-hearted  War  Governor,  of 
Massachusetts,  at  the  Martha's  Vineyard  Camp  Meeting  : 

"  I  know  not  what  record,  of  sin  may  await  me  in  another 
world,  but  this  I  do  know;  I  was  never  mean  enough  to  despise 
a  man  because  he  was  poor,  because  he  was  ignorant  or  because 
he  was  black." 

Nurtured  in  the  close  and  frugal  habits  of  New  England  life, 
frugality  became  the  unconscious  habit  of  his  life.  His  salary 
for  the  first  year  in  the  ministry  was  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
he  saved  a  portion  of  that  sum.  Here  was  laid,  in  close  living 
and  hard  experience  in  saving,  the  foundation  of  subsequent  for- 
tune. He  was  misunderstood,  as  he  lived  on,  holding  to  the 
great  fortune  that  was  so  rapidly  multiplying  in  his  hands.  In 
this  there  was  purpose.  Seeing  his  entire  life  in  the  light  of  his 
closing  years,  we  mus:;  siy,  here  is  a  man  who  did  his  duty  as 
God  gave  him  to  see  it.  How  much  easier  to  have  yielded  to 
the  plans  of  others  and  to  have  scattered  the  fortune  that,  in  his 
very  latest  years,  so  amazingly  increased,  and  made  possible  the 
realization  of  his  largest  plans.  His  experience  in  old  age  gives 
indication  that  he  always  cherished  some  large  and  noble  plan 
of  beneficence  with  which  to  crown  his  life  work. 

His  modesty  was  genuine  and  unaffected.  During  all  these 
years,  never  a  spoken  word  in  public.  It  has  been  noticed  that 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  students,  at  sight  of  the  dear  old  gray 
head,  embarrassed  him.  Asa  Trustee,  his  spirit  of  modesty  ap- 
pears in  the  following  : 

"  My  convictions  are  very  strong  upon  this  point,  but  I  have 
no  more  rights  than  any  other  trustee.    I  voluntarily  surren- 


1!) 

dered  all  my  rights,  so  that  it  could  not  be  said  that  I  wished  to 
control  the  school  b\-  my  position  or  influence." 

And  what  self  command  was  his.  He  held  his  powers  in 
control  with  the  grip  of  a  moral  giant.  No  one  could  think  of 
him  as  showing  the  flutter  and  weakness  of  mere  hurrv.  He 
knew  what  haste  meant,  but  with  what  calmness,  tranquility, 
strength,  did  he  face  every  emergency. 

Gravity  marked  his  bearing.  He  walked  as  one  conscious 
of  grave  responsibility.  His  spirit  of  reverence  and  de\'outness 
were  marked.  "He  was  a  devout  man  ;  one  that  feared  God  and 
prayed  to  God  alway."  Who  gave  alms  to  the  poor,  and  builded 
a  synagogue. 

He  never  trifled  with  God's  word.  He  did  not  have  so  much 
respect  for  the  doctrines  of  men. 

His  devout  and  worshipful  spirit  found  expression  in  joining 
his  brother-in-law,  Captain  Newton,  in  building  a  beautiful  tem- 
ple of  worship  in  the  town  of  Katavia. 

It  is  significant  that  his  benefactions  took  that  form.  The 
choice  of  such  an  artistic  plan,  shows  his  delight  in  the  beauty 
of  the  Lord's  house.  Truly, 

•'  His  soul  was  full  of  awe. 

And  reverence  for  all  sacred  things: 
And  brooding  over  form  and  law, 

He  saw  the  Spirit's  wings." 

Far  removed  from  the  sentimental,  yet  Mr.  Gammon  was  a 
man  of  strong  and  even  tender  sentiment.  True,  in  him,  intel- 
lect and  will  predominated.  Yet  he  delighted  in  nature,  and 
had  a  fondness  for  the  best  in  painting  and  sculpture.  He  was 
movetl  by  the  real,  the  strong,  the  genuine.  I'nderneath  all  was 
a  heart  of  peculiar  tenderness,  which  did  not  a[)pear  on  all  occa- 
sions. Few  men  \vere  more  generous  in  their  appreciation  of 
straightforward,  unselfish  work.  Like  most  men  capable  of 
the  highest  friendship,  he  had  few  close  friends.  These  he 
grappled  to  his  heart  with  hooks  of  steel.  He  confided  in  them, 
encouraged  them,  trusted  them. 

If  I  were  asked  to  simi  up  the  character  of  this  man  in  a 
single  term,  I  should  utter  the  one  word  :  "  Gexuineness." 


20 


This  quality  of  reality,  sincerity,  honesty,  incorruptibleness, 
was  ingrained.  He  saw  through  the  mere  show  of  things.  He 
hated  shams.  He  was  even  inclined  to  look  askance  at  all  that 
savored  of  the  sentimental.  Mere  rank  or  station  counted  little 
with  him.  He  stood  aloft,  strong  ancj  fearless  in  his  own  integ- 
rity. He  was  no  mere  eye-servant,  waiting  for  the  verdict  of 
his  fellows  or  the  suffrage  of  the  world,  in  order  to  determine 
his  course  of  action.  He  preserved  a  manful  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence. He  was  a  man  of  conscience.  He  opened  his  soul  to 
the  light ;  then  followed  that  light  that  is  from  above.  Man  was 
not  his  master.  He  was  the  servant  of  God.  Man's  approval  or 
condemnation  were  felt,  but  did  not  turn  him  from  the  line  of 
light  that,  shining  from  above,  marked  out  God's  path  for  him. 
He  was  a  bold  believer,  and  a  strong  doer  of  the  Word.  An 
honest  doubter, 

"He  fought  his  doubts  and  gathered  strength, 

He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind, 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind, 

And  laid  them  :   thus  he  came  at  length 
To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own  ; 

And  power  was  with  him  in  the  night, 
Which  makes  the  darkness  and  the  light. 

And  dwells  not  in  the  light  alone. 
But  in  the  darkness  and  the  cloud." 

In  the  one  fact  of  the  conversion  of  this  sturdy,  thoughtful 
son  of  New  England,  however,  we  find  the  tap-root  of  his  char- 
acter. Without  the  influence  of  the  Christian  religion,  the  life 
and  work  of  Elijah  H.  Gammon  cannot  be  accounted  for.  He 
was  a  man  of  faith.  He  was  rooted  in  God.  From  Heaven 
came  the  strength,  inspiration  and  guidance  that  made  the  man. 
Fixed  as  is  the  oak  in  the  earth,  with  roots  girding  the  granite 
beneath,  yet  free  in  its  upward  growth  of  trunk  and  limb  and 
leaf,  drinking  in  the  sunlight  and  tossing  its  branches  in  the 
storm  ;  so  was  his  soul  fixed  yet  free  in  God. 

Last  Days. 

It  is  a  grateful  memory,  that  of  the  last  five  months  of  Mr. 
Gammon's  life  among  men,  three  were  spent  on  this  Campus — 


21 


a  spot  that  had  become  the  centre  of  his  constant  thought  and 
affectionate  interest. 

Though  much  of  the  time  in  painful  weakness,  yet  his  delight 
was  in  the  Seminary  and  its  future.  A  new  building  for  chapel, 
lecture  rooms  and  offices  occupied  much  of  his  thought.  He 
studied  plans  for  it,  and  figured  out  the  finances  of  the  enter- 
prise ;  he  longed  to  live  to  see  this  hall,  completing  the  group 
of  main  buildings,  rise  on  its  granite  foundations. 

Though  he  said  little,  yet  it  is  evident  that  he  thought  much 
of  that  other  building,  "the  house  not  made  with  hands." 

He  did  not  want  to  die,  but  he  was  not  afraid  to  die.  He 
knew  his  stewardship  was  ending.  The  best  calculations  of  his 
last  years  were  given  to  the  getting  in  readiness  of  nis  accounts 
for  the  Last  Day. 

One  night,  in  the  home  of  his  much  loved  niece,  he  sat 
thoughtfully  over  the  pages  of  an  open  "Guest  Book,"  in  which 
he  had  been  asked  to  write.  For  years  the  home  represented 
by  that  book  had  been  his  delight.  But  he  was  now  looking 
beyond  the  temporal,  as  he  wrote — "Yours  in  hope  of  im- 
mortality." Leaning  back  thoughtfully,  he  said:  "You  see 
what  I  have  written.  That's  the  one  thing  I  think  about  most 
— the  hope  of  immortality." 

Soon  after,  lovingly  attended  by  Professor  and  Mrs.  Craw- 
ford, he  went  to  his  Batavia  home.  Here  his  last  days  were 
brightened  by  the  presence  and  ministrations  of  the  beloved  wife, 
who,  for  thirty-five  years,  had  been  the  inspiration  and  joy  of  his 
life ;  a  rare  woman,  spiritually  minded,  generous,  devout ;  who 
into  all  the  plans  of  Mr.  Gammon,  entered  with  a  personal  inter- 
est and  enthusiasm  that  cheered  and  sustained  him  in  his  most 
beneficent  purposes. 

In  great  peace,  on  July  8rd,  he  entered  on  immortality,  leav- 
ing on  record  as  his  final  word  and  testament  :  "  I  commit  my  soul 
to  God  and  the  Word  of  His  grace,  trusting  in  and  through  the 
merits  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  obtain  everlasting  life." 

"The  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horseman  thereof  have 


•i2 

stooped  for  another  Elijah.  Whether  it  was  honored  more  by 
the  first  passenger  than  the  last  God  only  knows." 

From  the  beautiful  Batavia  church,  his  body  was  carried  to 
Graceland  Cemetery,  and  laid  beside  the  cherished  daughters, 
and  the  greatly  beloved  and  only  sofi,  Charles  Wesley. 

The  work  of  his  hands  in  sowing  and  reaping  was  over.  But 
his  soul  is  living  and  working  on  through  thought  and  purpose 
nobly  embodied. 

He,  who,  by  his  prophetic  wisdom,  had  done  more  than  any 
one  man  to  send  forth  reapers  whose  multiplied  powers  should 
gather  in  the  vast  harvests  of  the  great  West,  as  the  shadows 
of  his  day  began  to  lengthen,  standing  near  the  Master  and 
looking  out  upon  the  great  fields  of  the  South,  heard  a  voice 
saying : 

"  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields  ;  for  they  are  white 
already  to  harvest  ;  and  he  that  reapeth,  receiveth  wages,  and 
gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eternal." 

He  could  not  go,  but  he  could  prepare  men,  and  send  them  in 
his  stead.  And  the  significance  of  his  response  may  be  realized 
in  the  more  than  two-score  of  spiritual  harvesters,  who  as 
Alumni  of  this  .Seminary  are  even  now  out  in  the  fields  reaping 
harvest  of  souls.  With  a  work  only  well  begun,  with  an  Institution 
equipped  for  the  centuries,  "who  can  so  forecast  the  years"  as 
to  give  an  estimate  of  the  harvests  to  come  that  the  sons  of 
Gammon  shall  reap  and  gather  into  the  Kingdom, 

Praise  God,  he  lived  to  see  some  results  of  his  work  ;  and  it 
is  a  grateful  memory,  on  this  his  day,  to  recall  how  his  last  days 
were  gladdened  as  he  saw 

"  Ere  his  eye  was  darkened, 

The  sheaves  of  the  harvest  bringing; 
And  knew,  while  his  ear  yet  hearkened, 

The  voice  of  the  seraphs  singing." 


Quarterly  Bdlletip. 


FEBRUARY,  18!>2. 


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